If you recall, reality TV show Duck Dynasty was associated with gay slurs not too long ago. I posted about it here. And now, according to this piece, it seems a Duck Dynasty concert was canceled due to lack of sales.

The planned musical extravaganza from the stars of reality show Duck Dynasty has been canceled because of low ticket sales. The Robertson family was to bring a concert, called Faith, Family & Ducks, to Springfield, Missouri (a midwestern US state). The presentation was to be a mixture of songs, and speeches, on how the family lives the American dream and keeps ‘family values.’

I don’t want to speculate on why ticket sales were so low, but I’d like to think it could be because most people realize it’s a stupid show, there’s nothing “real” about it, and it’s geared to make some people a great deal of money by sensationalizing topics like gay issues and portraying southerners with bad stereotypes.

Tom Daley Gay Slur Art

When Tom Daley came out he suffered a great deal of abuse, in public. An artist has taken all of this anti-gay abuse and turned it into an interesting form of art. In other words, he turned it around.

Collins revealed the finished portrait on his Twitter account this week (17 April). ‘My finished portrait of @TomDaley1994 made out of the homophobic tweets sent to him when he came out. #art’ he said. The artwork shows Daley, and his signature six-pack, against a backdrop of the British flag.

I’ve posted about the controversy over the word “tranny,” here, many times. For the record, I don’t use it and never have. I understand the power of words and never take that for granted. However, there have been many interesting discussions about all this, especially with respect to gay culture and intent, and I’m passing along some of the most interesting I’ve seen.

Personally, I’ve always regarded being called a “tranny” not as a slur but as a term of endearment. Growing up in Philadelphia, close to the origin of the ball and house scenes, it wasn’t that strange to hear words like “tranny,” “she-male,” and “he-she” being used in that way within the queer community of color. It was especially popular with the predominantly black and Latino kids at the Attic Youth Center. You could also hear it from the older trans matrons who worked the community tables at Outfest and Pridefest, and even occasionally from the trans sex workers you’d pass while walking home from the Gayborhood. Out of all the lingo, it’s “tranny” that I remember most vividly. It wasn’t just a word but a cultural moniker celebrating a certain type of effeminacy. Though I never sought it, I wore it as a badge of pride. It was coded speech between queer people of color that few white LGBT people noticed or even understood at the time. It was part of an underground language that also included words like “shade” and “reading,” which have since gone mainstream.You can read more here.

Important note: anyone is free to comment an offer and opinion on this topic (or any topic like it) as often and as long as they want. You can comment anonymously or with a name. I don’t even mind pen names. However, keep it civil. I respect everyone’s opinion and right to free speech and will publish it, as long as it is civil. This is a not for profit blog and unlike publications like Huff Po that are multi-million dollar operations that make Arianna Huffington a very wealthy woman by taking free content from writers I don’t have to deal with incivility. And I won’t. Plain and simple. You can’t say anything that would offend me at this point in my life. You can’t even think of one slur or word that I haven’t already experienced twice. But I don’t want my readers offended.

Author of over 100 published LGBT romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. Hates beets.
New Hope, PA Palm Springs, CA
ryan-field.blogspot.com